


Smile, You're Getting Younger

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 16:10:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3856861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Rahndom’s prompt: During the Return of Ra’s Al Ghul, before Bruce can make his choice, Ra’s takes over Tim’s body, and the new Demon’s Head smirks sweetly whenever they meet</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile, You're Getting Younger

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for: Possession, creepy shit, nightmares.

His new body felt lighter.

            He had never realized how old his had gotten, not really. After years of walking the earth with the same set of bones, he had forgotten what it was like to be truly young. Not young by the means of the pit; young without that acid flowing through his veins. It had to have been decades.

            Ra’s got out of bed, stretching his new limbs. It had been months since he had taken this body but he still felt slightly off balance. It would wear off, he knew that, but until then, he made sure to “break it in” so to speak. After doing his exercises, he walked over to the mirror in his room and smiled.

            Timothy Drake smiled back at him.

***

            The Bat hadn’t stopped pestering him since he gained his new body.

            He hadn’t seen Wayne since the day he acquired his new flesh, though the man had tried to get his hands on Ra’s. Messages were frequently sent, and every few weeks or so, the League had to clear out to a new location to avoid a raid from the Justice League. But the Bat had not gotten his hands on Ra’s yet, and Ra’s knew how to keep it that way.

***

            His assassins had gotten sloppy since he had changed.

            Ra’s ducked forward as an assassin, likely from another clan, dived towards him, blade outstretched. He punched the man in his stomach before he could change direction and he went down at once. Ra’s nimbly grabbed the blade from the man’s hands, and looked down at the figure below him.

            The assassin wasn’t young, perhaps thirty at the most with short brown hair and a lined face. His scars spoke of his pervious experience. “That attempt was pathetic. Did you think you could so easily destroy the demon’s head?”  
            The assassin glared and Ra’s sighed, placing his bare foot over the man’s neck to cut off his air supply. He often didn’t get this level of defiance from his opponents. It was likely from young Timothy’s baby face. He pinched his own cheeks and scowled. Hopefully his body would sort itself out before this became an annoyance. Maybe he could grow back his beard.

            The man below him struggled and Ra’s looked down, remembering the captive at his mercy. He took in a deep breath before lifting the blade. In one crisp movement, he was standing in a pool of blood.

***

            He had dreams about young Timothy’s life sometimes.

            It was tiresome, living the boy’s struggles and triumphs.  He would be dreaming normally of riding down the beach with a sword at his side, but soon the dream would shift to that of a high school with brick walls and alarm bells. It was tedious.

            There were some common figures in these dreams. Some of Timothy’s friends, a boy named Ives, and a girl named Ari. Some of the members of the Teen Titans. A few of the Bat’s clan too; a young bright blond by the name of Stephanie, or Grayson. Sometimes Timothy’s father would appear as well, looming over Ra’s, a boomerang sticking out of his chest.

            When he woke up, he made sure to write every name down. It never hurt to have some leverage on file, even if it was leverage on a boy who no longer existed.

***

            His daughter didn’t approve. She had been one of the people the Bat had called to arms in his futile quest to gain back his son’s body. She had found him once, soon after the deed was done. The fight almost cost him his life. He had barely managed to escape.

            She should have been thankful. He had spared her son after all.

***

            He had only had to use the pit once since acquiring Timothy’s body.

            He had been badly hurt, with a bullet to the side. His men were forced to take him to the pit and dunk him under for the first time in months.

            He had thought it would be comforting, almost familiar to soak in the green juices once more. But his new body was not used to the sting of the pit’s waters that his old body had grown accustomed to.

            As soon as it touched his wound, his body was on fire.

            And while he had gotten used to his new voice, the screaming that echoed through the cave sounded much more like the screams of Timothy Drake than those of Ra’s Al Ghul.

***

            The assassins had become more frequent. Someone, someone with deep knowledge of his organization was out to kill him, and bribing his own men to do it.

So he investigated. The last assassin he caught was tortured personally until he gave up the name of his employer and the letter he had been given. Ra’s had read it over several times, each time his frown deepening.

            “ _Make sure the body can’t come back. If you kill Ra’s, you get a bonus. But make sure the body he inhabits is fucking useless to him so it can rest in peace.”-                      The Red Hood._

            He settled on burning the letter, but not before sending a copy to the Bat himself, with a personal note. He could bother with Todd. Ra’s had a life ahead of him.

***

            He stopped having Timothy’s dreams a week later. That night the Bat caught up to him outside of France. As Ra’s stepped on the Bat’s chest, the Bat lifted off his mask, gasping through bloody lips.

            “Tim.”

            Ra’s Al Ghul smiled back at him.


End file.
